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I believe plastic bags are unacceptable and are not favorable to the environment . One reason I am against using them is, they kill marine animals. Another reason is, all the plastic bags and garbage are drawn together by the ocean’s circling currents which has been patched together as a patch.. These are two reason I believe this to be true. Plastic bags kill thousands of marine animals. For example, in the text, “ Plastic Bags: Convenient and Cruel,” Lauren Magaziner says that marine animals mistake the plastic bags for food. If the marine animals swallow the plastic bags, it will block the digestive tract, causing a slow and agonizing death. Marine animals including sea turtles, seals, seabirds, dolphins, whales, and sharks die from
Which means their obviously bad for the aquatic marine life environment & are cause many different forms of damage for them & us as one. On p.g. 23 of The New York Times upfront magazine “Birds,fish, sea turtles, & others are getting tangled in plastic bags or mistake them for food & choke”. Someone else might argue that they could the plastic bags in landfills instead of oceans. But that counter- argument is flawed because you’re just polluting by burning plastic which is bad on our part we’re not doing our part to support & taking care of the earth. Plastic in the ocean isn't just bad for plants & animals but for humans too because of the food chain some of us eat animals as a meat source such as aqua marine life like fish. If the fishermen catch fish that have been eating plastic then it's in our food supply if we eat that fish it's gonna be bad for us so many will end up getting sick from the plastic inside of the fish then what will we do our aqua marine food supply will go down the drain we couldn’t eat the fish since it's basically contaminated with plastic that we’re dumping there instead of trying to fix it & getting rid of plastic bags for good for the good of the earth. We’re causing damage towards the earth by dumping all that plastic into the ocean which damages our water supply it’ll poison us although we clean the water it depends on how big the plastic particles are, it’ll make us sick & sense it’s been lying in the oceans could bring in new pathogens &
Since paper bag manufacturing requires the use of a large amount of wood. That could lead to deforestation, loss of animal habitats, soil erosion and increase of temperature in the atmosphere. When people do think about the pros and cons of the type of bag, they are usually limited to thinking about cost and ease in use. Plastic bags are cheaper to make by 85 percent than paper bags, and they are also much lighter and can carry up to 1000 times their weight. This is not the true cost that comes along with the production of plastic bags though, the true cost is our health and environment. Plastic bags require 1.62 lbs. of petroleum to make a thousand bags (Interplase.com, 2015). Petroleum is not only a scarce source of nonrenewable energy, but its thermal capacity escalates the greenhouse effect, making our atmosphere unwantedly warmer. When paper bags are deposited into the environment, wither on water or on land, it takes very little time to degrade and leaves no harmful trace, while plastic breaks apart but does not disappear and slowly accumulates in soil. This delays the uptake of water by plants and many land animals to choke and die on it. Though plastic bags may be much more appropriate in its strength, looks and cost. On the contrary, lives should be a priority over money and
The article Plastic bags are Good for you, by Katherine Mangu-Ward was written to explore the pro’s and con’s of three different types of bags. Which is better between plastic, paper, or reusable bags has always been a debatable question with an opinionated answer. In the article Mangu-Ward characterizes the cause and effect relationships which have lead to the unpopularity of plastic bags in terms of guilt.
Every year, an estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enters our environment, severely polluting oceans, beaches, forests, and even the towns and cities we live in. In the ocean alone, it is believed that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic pollutes the waters (“Plastic Statistics”, Ocean Crusaders).The majority of plastic pollution can be traced back to single-use items, such as grocery bags, bottles, and plastic packaging. According to United Nations Environment, “At the rate we are dumping items such as plastic bottles, bags and cups after a single use, by 2050 oceans will carry more plastic than fish…” (“UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic”, UN Environment). This pollution is a major problem and endangers not only the environment, but human
Ironically, plastic, which is a material designed to last forever, is generally used for things we tend to throw away. Every year, about one hundred to two hundred billion pounds of plastic are manufactured. Only 31% of that plastic is actually recycled. Biomass packaging estimates 10% of that plastic ends up in the ocean annually. About 20% of it coming from ships and other platforms, and the other 80% coming from land derived sources, such as international garbage dumping, winds or tides, either way it finds its way to the ocean.
In conclusion, humans need to realize the benefits of recycling plastic bags can do for the environment because with recycling, we can clean up parks, roadsides, parking lots and many more other places that has a massive amount of litter. This will also have an enormous impact on future generations, thus to the fact that we can decrease pollution by just charging ten extra cents for plastic bags. Furthermore, plastic bags are unnecessary because humans can just purchase a reusable bag instead of using toxic
Plastic or paper, is a choice that people face when going to the grocery stores. Plastic bags are often the choice that is made. A controversial issue in the world today is the use of plastic bags. Plastic bags are used because of the convenience they give, by being able to carry several items at once. However, in the article, “Banning Bans, Not Bags”, Jennifer Schultz claims, “Plastic bags clog up local waterways, litter roadways, and get swallowed up by unsuspecting fish” (6). Plastic bags are used once, then are discarded or, littered all over the place. When they are littered all over they become problems for more than just humans. These plastic bags pose a big hazard for animals on land and in especially the ocean. Humans eat land and
In my opinion, I believe that the use of reusable bags should be enforced more, because the discarded bags make the city look dirty and messy. When it comes to the point where a plastic bag is very necessary, the plastic bags can easily be replaced by other options. Other alternatives with replacing a plastic bag like for example there are reusable bags. The reusable bags can be found in any local grocery store and can also make a big difference in our environment. Reusable bags can also carry a variety of items as a plastic bag can and the most of all they are used over and over again without having to dispose of it or worrying about that it has to be double bagged because it might tear.
Plastic bags are considered worldwide concerns because of its disadvantages in a long run to the environment. People have tried solving the problem by banning it and yet still it is ineffective. So thus it is not only the concerns of government alone but also each and every individuals responsibility to help tackle the issue if we are to live a healthy environment , and for generations to come, help address issues pertaining to environment, not an individual input but rather a collective effort from all the side to fight against it.
Plastic is used everywhere and for everything, as it has important advantages such as being relatively inexpensive, practical, versatile and durable. However, these factors are also responsible for the fact that plastic is a long-lasting pollutant that persists in the environment for a very long time. Not only does it not biodegrade, but it accumulates and so do the negative impacts. Marine plastic pollution is harmful
This essay will discuss the various harmful effects of plastic bags, and demonstrate the risks that these bags impose on humans, animals, and the environment. It will also discuss a series of suggested solutions that could help reduce plastic bag usage. Although plastic bags appear to be fragile and light, their negative environmental effect is devastating. Plastic bags may cause large amounts of pollution at every step of their limited life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials, production, transportation, and recycling or disposal. Plastic bags can be defined as the most damaging form of environmental pollution.
Many people jump to the conclusion that paper bags are better for the environment without knowing the facts. Since plastic bags are preferred by customers and plastic bags actually do not hurt the environment as much as paper ones do, consumers should feel at ease when choosing plastic. Plastic bags are less harmful to the environment than paper bags because it takes more water to make paper bags, it takes more energy to make them, and the resources to make paper bags are limited. The misconception is that only paper can be used.
It is true that plastic bags are a leading contender in water and air pollution by having them, but they also take up less space in landfills than the other types of bags and compared to paper bags is better for the environment. In fact, paper bags are more harmful than a plastic bag because to make paper bags you must cut down trees, statistically about 14 million trees are cut down to make these bags. Along with the cutting down of these trees, the manufacturing of paper bags as produced 70 percent more air pollution and 50 times more water pollution than the production of plastic bags. Paper bags, however do have the advantage when it comes to being decomposable and more recyclable. Reusable bags, they do not rely on fossil fuels like petroleum and are ecofriendly so you would think there are no problems with them, that however is not the case. Some reusable bags in fact still contain certain amounts of plastic in them and even hold harmful chemicals such as lead. Chemicals such as lead are dangerous to the surrounding environment and the health of humans. These chemicals are even expected to contaminate underground water. Despite this reusable bags to produce a lower risk of waste damage during its production and is quite reusable as the name
More than fifty species of birds are known to ingest plastic. When they eat plastic, they feel full, so some of them die of starvation. Algal blooms are another thing that kills marine life. Algal blooms are sea scum, whale food, and sea sawdust. Algal blooms are bundles of fine threads, rusty brown, they have a fishy smell, and are common in August through December.
Economic growth and changing consumption patterns are resulting into rapid increase generation of plastic waste in the world. According to the United Nations Environmental programme (UNEP) (2009), the world’s plastic consumption today has increased to 100 million tons as compared to 5 million tons in 1950s. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (2008), every year Americans use and dispose of 100 billion plastic shopping bags that generates tons of waste. Similarly, Australia use 3.92 billion plastic bags and about 3.76 billion bags (20,700 tons) are disposed of in landfill every year (Clean up, n.d.). The South Asian countries like India consumes about 8 million tons of plastic products and about 5.6 million tons (70%) of plastic bag waste are generated every year (Central pollution Control Board, 2013). In Bhutan, about 13% of municipal waste content is plastic waste generated in urban areas (Phuntsho, Heart, Shon, Vigneswaran, Dulal, Yangden, & Tenzin, 2007). Therefore, in order to reduce plastic waste, the use of plastic bags are regulated and banned countries such as the United States of America, Australia in 2009, Bangladesh in 2002, China in 2008, Delhi in India in 2009, Tanzania in 2012, and the Philippines in July 2013 (Surfrider Foundation, 2014).